Day 63 - Disneyland
Today, we did something really spontaneous. We decided to go to Disneyland and have a little fun. We have been somewhat stressed out from work/life things happening and needed to enjoy the time together so off to Anaheim we went. We originally thought of driving after work on Friday night, do the Disney thing and drive back on Sunday but I thought of how tired I was going to be so we decided to fly and rent a car for a couple of days. That was a good move however, if I had planned a few weeks earlier, I could have saved some money on the flight.
We arrived at the park around 9:00 am and it was already packed. This was the first weekend that Disney had the holiday stuff off and there was plenty of Christmas music and holiday cheer all around the park. Our first ride was Star Tours which took about 20 minutes to get on then we went to the Autopia cars. I wanted to do the newly reopened Space Mountain but with Patty's headaches, I did not want to aggrivate that.
We then headed off to Frontierland and the famous Tiki Room which is always one of my favorites. Next, we got a ride on the Jungle Cruise which took almost an hour to get on. We got fast pass tickets for the Indiana Jones ride but that was not going to be for a few hours so we headed over to New Orleans Square. I called on Friday to make a reservation with the Blue Bayou restaurant which was a good thing as they didn't have anything open for the rest of the day and we ate lunch which was absolutely wonderful. This is the best restaurant in Disneyland unless you know someone who has a membership in Club 33. Club 33 is the most exclusive membership club at Disneyland (only about 430-480 members worldwide) and you can only get into Club 33 if you are a member or have a member make a reservation for you. Club 33, rumor has it, costs about $10,000 for a membership and annual renewals are $3,000 to $5,000 and it takes approx. 2-3 years after your application is taken to actually get in. If you like Disneyland, check out the following website http://www.disneylandclub33.com/ and see what I am talking about.
After lunch, we headed back to the Indiana Jones ride before heading over to California Adventure. We did the park hopper thing and I was glad we did. The California Adventure was a blast. We went on the Grizzly Rapids (where I got soaked!). Patty really enjoyed the Twilight Zone's Hollywood Hotel ride and I loved the Soarin' over California. This was the first time we had done California Adventure and it was quite fun.
We then headed back to the main park for the remainder of our stay. When we got back, all the streets were crowded for one of the parades but somehow managed to get through to Fantasyland for It's a Small World. The wait was 65 to 75 minutes and my feet were killing me. I didn't want to wait that long so we made it to Toon Town and took the train around Disneyland to get back to New Orleans Square (besides, I was getting pooped and starving). We couldn't find a place to sit down and eat but finally found one of the restaurants and they didn't have a place to sit down as all the tables were taken for those wanting to watch the Fantasmic show. The restaurant had us take our food with us to the Golden Horsehoe restaurant where we ate our barbacue chicken dinner.
We proceeded to Pirates of the Caribbean where we got on in about 15 minutes as most of the folks were outside waiting for Fantasmic to begin. They changed the attraction a bit but it was a lot of fun. After Pirates, it was off to the Haunted Mansion where it was redone for Christmas and relabled as The 13 Days of Christmas which was based on Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and it was quite excellent. Patty & I loved "Beetle Juice" and of course "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory" so the Haunted Mansion was sure to be great and it didn't disappoint us.
After all this, I was done. I could barely walk so we finished up our adventure with some shopping and called it a night. We left the park around 11:45 pm and headed back to the motel so we could rest up for the trip home. Over all, it was a fantastic weekend but I am totally sore and exhausted. I love Disneyland!!
Monday is our next workout with Keith and I'm sure I will be challenged due to the pain from all the walking and up and down lots of stairs. After we're in shape, we'll do this again to see if we have any stamina.
Jerry
We arrived at the park around 9:00 am and it was already packed. This was the first weekend that Disney had the holiday stuff off and there was plenty of Christmas music and holiday cheer all around the park. Our first ride was Star Tours which took about 20 minutes to get on then we went to the Autopia cars. I wanted to do the newly reopened Space Mountain but with Patty's headaches, I did not want to aggrivate that.
We then headed off to Frontierland and the famous Tiki Room which is always one of my favorites. Next, we got a ride on the Jungle Cruise which took almost an hour to get on. We got fast pass tickets for the Indiana Jones ride but that was not going to be for a few hours so we headed over to New Orleans Square. I called on Friday to make a reservation with the Blue Bayou restaurant which was a good thing as they didn't have anything open for the rest of the day and we ate lunch which was absolutely wonderful. This is the best restaurant in Disneyland unless you know someone who has a membership in Club 33. Club 33 is the most exclusive membership club at Disneyland (only about 430-480 members worldwide) and you can only get into Club 33 if you are a member or have a member make a reservation for you. Club 33, rumor has it, costs about $10,000 for a membership and annual renewals are $3,000 to $5,000 and it takes approx. 2-3 years after your application is taken to actually get in. If you like Disneyland, check out the following website http://www.disneylandclub33.com/ and see what I am talking about.
After lunch, we headed back to the Indiana Jones ride before heading over to California Adventure. We did the park hopper thing and I was glad we did. The California Adventure was a blast. We went on the Grizzly Rapids (where I got soaked!). Patty really enjoyed the Twilight Zone's Hollywood Hotel ride and I loved the Soarin' over California. This was the first time we had done California Adventure and it was quite fun.
We then headed back to the main park for the remainder of our stay. When we got back, all the streets were crowded for one of the parades but somehow managed to get through to Fantasyland for It's a Small World. The wait was 65 to 75 minutes and my feet were killing me. I didn't want to wait that long so we made it to Toon Town and took the train around Disneyland to get back to New Orleans Square (besides, I was getting pooped and starving). We couldn't find a place to sit down and eat but finally found one of the restaurants and they didn't have a place to sit down as all the tables were taken for those wanting to watch the Fantasmic show. The restaurant had us take our food with us to the Golden Horsehoe restaurant where we ate our barbacue chicken dinner.
We proceeded to Pirates of the Caribbean where we got on in about 15 minutes as most of the folks were outside waiting for Fantasmic to begin. They changed the attraction a bit but it was a lot of fun. After Pirates, it was off to the Haunted Mansion where it was redone for Christmas and relabled as The 13 Days of Christmas which was based on Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and it was quite excellent. Patty & I loved "Beetle Juice" and of course "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory" so the Haunted Mansion was sure to be great and it didn't disappoint us.
After all this, I was done. I could barely walk so we finished up our adventure with some shopping and called it a night. We left the park around 11:45 pm and headed back to the motel so we could rest up for the trip home. Over all, it was a fantastic weekend but I am totally sore and exhausted. I love Disneyland!!
Monday is our next workout with Keith and I'm sure I will be challenged due to the pain from all the walking and up and down lots of stairs. After we're in shape, we'll do this again to see if we have any stamina.
Jerry
posted by Jerry van West at
7:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home